• Europe's main equity markets diverged at the opening bell on Wednesday.

In initial trades, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of major blue-chip companies earned 0.2 percent to 7,623.89 points compared with the close on Tuesday.

In the eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX 30 index clawed 0.3 percent higher to 13,597.22 points, while the Paris CAC 40 hit reverse and shed 0.3 percent to 6,056.84.